Financial Abuse of Older People by a Family Member: A Difficult Terrain for Service Providers in Australia

Financial abuse by a family member is the most common form of abuse experienced by older Australians, and early intervention is required. National online surveys of 228 chief executive officers and 214 aged care service providers found that, while they were well placed to recognize financial abuse, it was often difficult to intervene successfully. Problems providers encountered included difficulties in detecting abuse, the need for consent before they could take action, the risk that the abusive family member would withdraw the client from the service, and a lack of resources to deal with the complexities inherent in situations of financial abuse.     

How much does income matter in neighborhood choice?

There is a substantial literature on the residential mobility process itself and a smaller contribution on how households make neighborhood choices, especially with respect to racial composition. We extend that literature by evaluating the role of income and socioeconomic status in the neighborhood choice process for minorities. We use individual household data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study to investigate the comparative choices of white and Hispanic households in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. We show that income and education are important explanations for the likelihood of choosing neighborhoods. But at the same time, own race preferences clearly play a role. While whites with more income choose more white neighborhoods, Hispanics with more income choose less Hispanic neighborhoods. One interpretation is that both groups are translating resources, such as income and education, into residence in whiter and ostensibly, higher status neighborhoods.

Representations of autism in Australian print media

The mass media provides a frame for discourse around important health issues, and it has been widely demonstrated that the development and reinforcement of stereotypes of minority groups are strongly influenced by the news and entertainment media. An extensive search of academic databases failed to locate any studies which examined the representation of autism in the news media, although there were a number of articles on the media role in the autism and MMR debate. This paper reports on an examination of the extent, and nature, of coverage of ‘autism spectrum disorders’ in the Australian print media between 1996 and 2005. Key findings include a relatively limited amount of factual information and a dual stereotype of people labeled as having autism as either dangerous and uncontrollable or unloved and poorly treated. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the nature and tone of this coverage of autism and its potential impact on individuals described as ‘autistic’, their families and carers and the community in general.     

The State of Our Art: A Review of Theories Used in Intergenerational Program Research (2003–2014) and Ways Forward

Despite several published articles examining various characteristics of intergenerational program research over the past decade, there has been no comprehensive examination of how theory is being used (or not) in the field of intergenerational practice for more than 10 years. This article examines the published research literature on intergenerational programs over the past decade (2003–2014) to discover which theoretical perspectives have been applied to intergenerational practice and analyze the questions and issues that emerge from those theories and their use. The authors consider what is needed to advance our theoretical understanding of intergenerational practice and suggest some theoretical directions forward for the field.     

The blame game: news,blame, and young homicide victims

Media have represented blame in homicide cases as attributable to a victim or an offender; we provide a more nuanced category of shared blame. We examine stories covering young homicide victims to demonstrate how shared blame is operationalized in print news, noting stark differences across a victim’s race and gender. We conduct a content analysis of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and police reports from Seminole County and Sanford, Florida, from 2000 to 2012. Stark racial and gender differences are apparent in the way the content is framed and how the victims are depicted. The newspaper’s representation of young African American males is consistent with existing stereotypes of the “criminal black man.” We discuss the larger implications of our findings and how our results apply to high-profile killings of young homicide victims including Trayvon Martin.     

Young Infants Detect the Direction of Biological Motion in Point‐Light Displays

In the present study, we examined if young infants can extract information regarding the directionality of biological motion. We report that 6‐month‐old infants can differentiate leftward and rightward motions from a movie depicting the sagittal view of an upright human point‐light walker, walking as if on a treadmill. Inversion of the stimuli resulted in no detection of directionality. These findings suggest that biological motion displays convey information for young infants beyond that which distinguishes them from nonbiological motion; aspects of the action itself are also detected. The potential visual mechanisms underlying biological motion detection, as well as the behavioral interpretations of point‐light figures, are discussed.     

"Body-As-World": Kenneth Burke's Answer to the Postmodernist Charges Against Sociology

Postmodernism charges that sociological methods project ways of thinking and being from the past onto the future, and that sociological forms of presentation are rhetorical defenses of ideologies. Postmodernism contends that sociological theory presents reified constructs no more based in reality than are fictional accounts. Kenneth Burke's logology predates and adequately addresses postmodernism's valid charges against sociology. At the same time, logology avoids the idealistic tendencies and ethical pitfalls of radical forms of postmodernist deconstruction, which acknowledge neither pretextual and extratextual worlds nor the ways in which experience is embodied. While not fully articulated, Burke's logology gives primacy to an embodied, social world prior to text (Body-as-World). Sociology can strengthen both its theoretical arsenal and its response to postmodernism by reacknowledging and reclaiming Burke's logology.     

A Probabilistic Arsenic Exposure Assessment for Children Who Contact CCA-Treated Playsets and Decks, Part 1: Model Methodology, Variability Results, and Model Evaluation

Concerns have been raised regarding the safety of young children who may contact arsenic residues while playing on and around chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood playsets and decks. Although CCA registrants voluntarily canceled the production of treated wood for residential use in 2003, the potential for exposure from existing structures and surrounding soil still poses concerns. The EPA's Office of Research and Development developed and applied the probabilistic Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation model for wood preservatives (SHEDS-Wood) to estimate children's absorbed dose of arsenic from CCA. Skin contact with, and nondietary ingestion of, arsenic in soil and wood residues were considered for the population of children in the United States who frequently contact CCA-treated wood playsets and decks. Model analyses were conducted to assess the range in population estimates and the impact of potential mitigation strategies such as the use of sealants and hand washing after play events. The results show predicted central values for lifetime annual average daily dose values for arsenic ranging from 10(-6) to 10(-5) mg/kg/day, with predicted 95th percentiles on the order of 10(-5) mg/kg/day. There were several orders of magnitude between lower and upper percentiles. Residue ingestion via hand-to-mouth contact was determined to be the most significant exposure route for most scenarios. Results of several alternative scenarios were similar to baseline results, except for the scenario with greatly reduced residue concentrations through hypothetical wood sealant applications; in this scenario, exposures were lower, and the soil ingestion route dominated. SHEDS-Wood estimates are typically consistent with, or within the range of, other CCA exposure models.     

Introduction

Social Indicators Research -     

Weber's concept of rationalization and the electronic revolution in western classical music

In examining the electronic revolution in Western Classical music, this article considers many of the important issues which Weber addresses in his work on the sociology of music—particularly the definitional problems related to Weber's concept of rationalization and the disenchantment of the world. The article examines Weber's concepts of rational action and rationalization in relation to music, then through analysis of developments in electronic music, raises questions regarding Weber's conclusions regarding the effect of rationalization in Western culture. Thanks to Leo D. Papa for technical assistance. Thanks also to Larry E. Simons, French Horn and Daniel McCollum, Cello, for providing musical examples. Steven Smith provided some sound criticism.